WiseTech buys FRDM.ai to boost supply chain compliance

WiseTech Global has agreed to acquire FRDM.ai, adding supply chain risk and compliance software to its portfolio.

The transaction includes upfront consideration of USD $10 million in cash and shares, with up to USD $14.31 million payable in all-cash earn-outs. It is subject to customary conditions.

Founded in California in 2018, FRDM.ai develops software that maps supplier networks beyond direct suppliers and scores risks in real time. Its platform focuses on issues including human rights, forced labour, sanctions, denied and restricted parties, cyber exposure and geopolitical risk across multiple tiers of a supply chain.

The acquisition gives WiseTech a foothold in a part of trade compliance that is drawing greater attention as regulators tighten scrutiny of sourcing practices and companies face pressure to prove where goods and inputs originate. Businesses that can identify only their Tier 1 suppliers often struggle to demonstrate compliance deeper in their supplier networks.

Compliance focus

WiseTech plans to combine FRDM.ai with existing products including BorderWise, Denied Party Screening and Global Knowledge to create a new offering called VerifyWise. The product will use datasets developed, accumulated or licensed by both businesses to verify identity, trust and trade data across supply chains.

The plan extends WiseTech's compliance tools from screening individual transactions to assessing supplier relationships across broader networks. It reflects a market shift as importers, exporters, freight forwarders and manufacturers face more detailed due diligence requirements tied to labour standards, sanctions and environmental rules.

WiseTech pointed to growing demand for tools that map Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers and monitor changes in real time. It said this level of visibility is becoming increasingly important for reporting obligations linked to modern slavery, forced labour, deforestation and other regulatory risks.

According to WiseTech, FRDM.ai's system draws on more than 6 billion trade records and uses that data to assess supplier relationships and generate risk scores across several compliance categories.

Network reach

For WiseTech, the acquisition also broadens the range of products it can sell to its existing customer base. It serves more than 22,000 logistics providers across 193 countries and, following its acquisition of e2open, has a network of more than 500,000 connected enterprises across manufacturing, logistics, channels and distribution.

That installed base gives WiseTech a route to distribute FRDM.ai's software to freight forwarding, customs, shipping and trade compliance users who already rely on the group's products. It also positions the company to offer supply chain verification to a wider range of participants, including importers, exporters, shippers, banks, legal practices, accountants and other firms with compliance responsibilities.

The transaction comes as governments and trading blocs raise expectations around supply chain transparency. In Australia, the government recently announced plans to strengthen modern slavery laws, including a new criminal offence for companies with annual consolidated revenue above AUD $100 million that fail to prevent modern slavery in their supply chains.

In Europe, the forced labour regime ties market access to traceability requirements, increasing pressure on companies to show where products come from and whether suppliers meet legal standards. Similar rules in the United States and the European Union have made supplier mapping and evidence gathering a bigger operational issue for multinational businesses.

WiseTech said the acquisition supports its broader ambition to expand its role in global trade and logistics software. It described FRDM.ai as a way to deepen the data and network effects behind VerifyWise, with each participant adding to the verification data available across the system.

There is also a commercial rationale for moving beyond transaction-level checks. Companies are increasingly asking software providers for tools that can identify risk before goods reach the border, rather than only screening counterparties and shipments at the point of trade execution.

Zubin Appoo, Chief Executive Officer, WiseTech Global, commented on the integration plans.

"As WiseTech's Chief Innovation Officer, Richard White has worked closely with FRDM.ai's founder, Justin Dillon, for more than nine months to bring FRDM.ai into the WiseTech Group, accelerating our VerifyWise plans. Our shared vision is to help organizations proactively identify and mitigate supply chain regulatory issues more easily," said Appoo.

Justin Dillon, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, FRDM.ai, said the deal would place the company within a larger global distribution network.

"Joining WiseTech Global, with its substantial global network across supply chain and logistics and ongoing investment in product innovation, positions the FRDM.ai platform to scale our global supply chain risk and compliance offering and fulfill our vision of leveraging trade to change the world. This is a very exciting phase for FRDM.ai and our team," said Dillon.